Subsidy stays in 2013–Jonathan

November 19, 2012 by Agency Reporter

President Goodluck Jonathan

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK Jonathan on Sunday assured Nigerians that the subsidy on petroleum would stay in 2013.

However, the President was silent on whether there would be an increase in the pump price of petrol or not. Our correspondent reports that the president’s assurance does not preclude an increase in fuel price. He adds that the President’s promise will remain valid even if the fuel price is hiked and government doesn’t fully remove subsidy.

“If we are going to remove subsidy from January, as you are afraid we will do in January, we couldn’t have made provisions for it in the 2013 budget. We have made provisions from January till December,” Jonathan said during the Presidential Media Chat aired live on network television and radio.

Fielding questions from a panel of interviewers, the President dwelt on a range of burning national issues including the convocation of a Sovereign national Conference, the 2015 election, and constitution amendment.

He said he was misunderstood when he said last Thursday that subsidy must go for development to take place in the oil sector.

“Why is it that people are not building refineries in Nigeria despite that it is a big business? It is because of the policy of subsidy, and that is why we want to get out of it,” the President had said while receiving the report of the graduating participants of the Senior Executive Course 34, 2012, of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

But the President said on Sunday that he did not say the country was deregulating its oil sector. ‘‘I did not say we are deregulating. But all what we are saying is that if we are to get to that level of Canada, the policy that existed in January, which is public-private sector driven, we have to adopt that in Nigeria,” he said.

On the shortage of fuel and the return of queues at filling stations, the President said Nigerians should bear with his government.

He said, “This situation can manifest in different areas, some people may have the product and decide to manipulate the system so that they can get more money.

“I am asking Nigerians to bear with us. I got the report from the ( Aig) Imokhuede committee on Friday, an advanced copy of the report. The arguments by the marketers is that it is government that is owing them. (But) the preliminary report we have indicates that they owe the government.

“They (oil marketers) are businessmen; they could decide to manipulate the system to get more money. I got a copy of the report. We will look into it. Experts are being brought in to do forensic audit. The human element is there, and we have our own challenges. I believe that by the time we finish sanitizing the oil sector, the issue of fuel queue will be put behind us for good.”

Jonathan, however, said Nigerians would have to wait till 2014 to know whether he would contest in the 2015 presidential race or not. He nonetheless noted that four years four years was too short to make an impact.

“Four years is a very short time for a person to make an impact. Immediately you start talking about elections. Give us time. Before you start asking Mr. President whether he will contest elections, wait until 2014. Give us some time to make sure that myself and my cabinet work,” he said.

He said it was too early to ask “a sitting President whether he will contest elections or not.”

The President added, “This is one of the reasons we agitated for this single tenure issue. If a President tells you today that I am contesting it will generate a lot of issues; I am not contesting will also generate a lot of issues.

“If I say I am not contesting some of my cabinet ministers will even resign and go because most of them, if not all of them, are qualified to contest the position. So we have a four year tenure which is quite short, because if you look at the African scenario, it ranges from 4 years to seven.

“Some countries have five years, like South Africa, some seven years, others six years of double tenures, but we operate what we copied from the United States of America.”

The President said a sovereign national conference could not be convened now.

He said, “When you mention the word sovereign, people get frightened. The basic thing I believe, as a President who has taken an oath to defend the constitution of Nigeria, is that whatever we do, we should keep in line with the constitution, and the citizens should send their views on the constitution to the National Assembly.

“If today we jettison the provision of the constitution, we will run into anarchy and the best option is to keep in line with the provision of the constitution.”

Commending the constitution review by the National Assembly, he said that Nigerians were being allowed to debate all issues.

Jonathan said “You expose issues to all Nigerians, individual groups, religious groups, social cultural groups, ethnic groups, youth groups and all other patriotic groups have the opportunity to make inputs to the constitution.”

On the call for referendum, the President said that what the National Assembly was doing had the elements of a referendum.

He said, “What we are doing has satisfied the issue of referendum. Because in a referendum we would want to know the opinion of people, the thinking of the people on a particular subject matter.

“What the National Assembly is doing is that they are going from state to state, from constituency to constituency, from zone to zone to collate the thinking of the people, in terms of the provisions of the constitution in the areas that affect them.”

The President also said that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had been working on the report of the Justice Belgore Committee on constitution review.

Jonathan said that he would not comment on issues that were being discussed in the ongoing constitution review.

The President acknowledged that Nigerians had rejected the single tenure he suggested given their reactions to the idea.

“I made that statement on a single tenure, just to solve that problem of the overheating of the polity. But I believe from the reactions so far that Nigerians feel that the best thing to do is to maintain the double-tenure (system). That is why we made sure that we sanitise our electoral system. Of course you can agree with me that that is one area where we have done very well,” he said.

On the Soku/Oluasiri oil row between Bayelsa and Rivers states, Jonathan said even though he was an indigene of Bayelsa he would not influence the process.

He said, ‘‘I am Bayelsan by birth and all my life, I have lived in Rivers State. I have more friends in Rivers than Bayelsa. The issue has to do with boundary, the area you are talking about is a boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa.

“Before Bayelsa was created, Nembe and Kalabiri fought over the boundary. It is a very sensitive area. I have already directed all the relevant agencies to go and do their work professionally. Frankly speaking, revenue mobilisation is independent; it even took the government to court. I will not influence anything to favour Bayelsa State.’’

MAY GOD SAVE US . NLC GET READY FOR A SHOWDOWN. REQUEST FOR SALARY INCREASE FROM 18,000 TO 25,000 TO CUSHION THE EFFECT.

Subsidy

frankly…this subs-i-thief of a thing ought to have been removed if
i have my way…bcos we masses complain so much about govt…while the
elites enjoy the billions they make through so called subsidy.
Corruption in oil sector will be a thing of past if the subsidy is
removed and private sector have full control in the oil industries. But
the oil thief mogul are shouting, spending money on masses to protest as
if they are doing us good….just to make sure that the govt of the day
does not tamper with the subsidy regime (their source of riches)…and
we are here talking corruption must go…while the corrupt elites are using we masses to protect their way of income (oil corruption).

Subsidy

frankly…this subs-i-thief of a thing ought to have been removed if
i have my way…bcos we masses complain so much about govt…while the
elites enjoy the billions they make through so called subsidy.
Corruption in oil sector will be a thing of past if the subsidy is
removed and private sector have full control in the oil industries. But
the oil thief mogul are shouting, spending money on masses to protest as
if they are doing us good….just to make sure that the govt of the day
does not tamper with the subsidy regime (their source of riches)…and
we are here talking corruption must go…while the corrupt elites are using we masses to protect their way of income (oil corruption)

Warning

This man has no vision, To God who made me this guy is a baboon and they controlled like a toy, Only God can save us in Nigeria if this man mean business they should sign and impose the death penalty on corrupt government office holders and those who side funds public funds for their personal use then all the government parastatals will sit up and serve with Good heart.

mikkyduff

If he is controlled like a toy why is he having problems with his boss, Baba Iyabo? He is his own man. He will cleanse the Augean Stable

odhunz

A blind man is leading this country, only God knows where this country will land. buh don’t be surprise if jonathan repeats the same thing he did on d 1st of jan. 2012 this coming january as a usual new year to his fellow Nigerians.

afam_4real23

NIGERIANS ARE CONFUSED THEY WANT SUBSIDY TO STAY STILL WHEN THEIR UNCLES,TOWN MAN,COUSINS AND BROTHERS LOOTS THE NATIONAL MONEY THEY WILL CALL FOR GEJ HEAD…SUBSIDY HAS BEEN THE REASON WHY OUR REFINERIES ARE NOT WORKING,OBJ JUST KILLED THIS COUNTRY WITH HIS KITCHEN CABINETS WHICH MANY OF THEM HAVE TURN INTO ACTIVISTS CRITICIZING EVERY POLICY….NIGERIANS WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE WANT? BUSINESS AS USUAL?

Akin Akin

Based on what I read in other newspapers ( because he said many other things apart from what PUNCH has reported) …I think the President comported himself more in the answers he gave (a departure from previous media chats).

Nevertheless, one will expect the President to use the opportunity offered by such a glorious opportunity to tell Nigerians what he has done..Virtually All his answers to questions Started from the words “WE WILL..” as against “WE HAvE”.And again, most answers he gave were in the form of ‘committee this, committee that’!!!Nigerians are tired of listening to manifestos…We need results!!! Well, he still has time to fix things,if he can, history will always remember him kindly.

On subsidy, Nigerians are in support of total removal. But d President shud not expect Nigerians to accept a situation where they are being told to ” suffer just for a while in order to enjoy later…”Politicians cannot be spending lavishly and still expect the already impoverished masses to further aggravate their poverty when there has been no effect of the partial removal. Total subsidy removal will be well supported by all and sundry if :

1. There’s a cut in govt spendings
2. Corruption is tackled sincerely
3. Palliative measures are put in place to mitigate the effects of total subsidy Removal
4. There’s more transparency

#If the above conditions are met, many Nigerians will support the removal. But if not, d protests earlier this year will look like child’s play

Stephoo

I will only to the FG to start building new Refineries or repair the existing ones before removing the fuel subsidy. Nigerians do not a repeat of last January’s incident.

Dr Pat Kolawole Awosan

President Ebele Jonathan must be frankly reminded that Nigerians are not afraid or concern of subsidy but Nigerians want president Jonathan inept and clueless government to repair and fix Nigeria four refineries ensure they are in good working condition and then let president Jonathan remove whatever the non existence subsidy he is talking about.
President Jonathan is using subsidy claim to provide unending free huge funds for his petroleum importers sponsors that shared N1.7 trillions naira early this year without supplying no fuel.It is all scam and corruption enlarge.
Federal roads are death traps especially Lagos to Ibadan and Lagos to Ore and Benin etc.
no modern well equip teaching hospital and any slight virus,it is abroad on Nigerians tax payers expense.Nothing works in any of the vital sectors including security of lives and properties which is not guarantee.
What is president Jonathan regime really doing? Who are the people benefitting from this anti people regime shunning out IMF/WB draconian austerity measures as dictated by IMF agent Dr Okonjo-Iweala?

ozaluoku

GEJ…ACTING PRESIDENT SINCE THE DEMISE OF HIS BOSS AND YET IN CHARGE OF AFFAIRS BUT UNABLE TO DELIVER..DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED WITH FULL CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE WITH FULL POWERS AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF BUT YET TO FIRE UP OUR PEOPLE.WE THIS KIND OF FOOT DRAGGING AND MOTION WITHOUT MOVEMENT STYLE OF LEADERSHIP.CAN WE AFFORD TO KEEP U FOR MORE YEARS AFTER 2015?IF SO,EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME..IF NOT.WHO WILL LIBERATE MY PEOPLE?

big chest

Can you spot any difference among these high-profile reprobates: James Onanefe Ibori, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, Lucky Igbinedion, Timipre Sylva, Peter Odili, Chimaroke Nnamani? Can you guess what these fallen ‘big men’ in Nigeria have in common? Well, I guess you guessed right: these are disgraced ex-Governors who have the blood of

stolen money running in their veins! The detailed embezzlement of resources put in their care for their self-aggrandisement runs into billions if not trillions of Naira, millions if not billions of dollars! Politics is what it is in Nigeria — a game of death and blood — because of wily characters like these men listed above whose fiendish cupidity defies any reason.

While Ibori, the bunkering murderer of justice in Nigeria, is serving his term in a British prison, Alams bolted away from one yonder breaking his bail conditions. Lucky Igbinedion was lucky enough to have negotiated a settlement out of court in the much-deprecated scheme in which a convict pays his way out through “plea bargaining”! Don’t forget he remains the son of Osawaru Igbinedion the randy billionaire in Benin City! Nnamani and Sylva and few others are still keeping dates with the courts while Odili (whose wife is a legal expert) simply obtained a perpetual injunction (a la Bassey Ikpeme’s anti-June 12 ABN-instigated midnight ruling) barring the EFCC or any other anti-corruption agency for that matter from ever arresting or questioning him about his 8-year ‘sleazeful’ stewardship in Port Harcourt!

Across the 36 states that make up the federation you have governors whose mediocrity is not different from what obtains at the centre in Abuja. With the exception of a few states like Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Jigawa, and Rivers the governors of the majority of states from east to west down south and up north plunder their states’ treasuries at will, impoverish their people, murder them by the thousands on bad roads and in ill-equipped hospitals. In a clime where accountability is virtually non-existent (with the legislature drawn into the looting game) it is not impossible to imagine the likes of Gov. Wamakko in Sokoto still thinking of the animal kingdom and how best it would have been fitting enough for him and his ilk to be ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ in such primitive enclave.

Today there seems to be a fierce ‘competition’ lately among the ‘excellencies’ over the purchase of jets and private planes. Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi (a gentleman whom we had thought to be of moderate taste) has since taken delivery of an exorbitant ‘executive bird’. Following him was the Akwa Ibom jolly-man, Godswill Akpabio, who took possession of his own jet recently. Before these gods in states’ government houses joined the ‘jet-owning generation’ we were used to ‘prosperity’ pastors and bishops procurring private jets for their mundane comforts: the Adeboyes, Oyedepos, and now Oritsejafors! One is surprised that no Nigerian Governor or ‘man-of-God’ has thus far paid out millions of dollars for holiday in the moon!

Now the governors, swimming in petro-dollars (a la Yakubu Gowon who, as an executive simpleton, had declared naively to the bewildered world during his gory martial reign, that Nigeria had money but never knew what to do with it!) and bereft of any development agenda other than mouthing the much-vaunted ‘transformation’ and devicing avenues for looting of public funds, are not only going for jets but estates abroad and what have you. Some of these governors pretend to ‘govern’ their respective states but wait patiently every month for the federal allocation which they embezzle and distribute to their mistresses and cronies. That is how Nigeria works!

Late last month a disturbing report had appeared online concerning executive recklessness and impunity in Nigeria. According to the report the acting Managing Director of KEDC, a subsidiary of the PHCN, Mohammed Adamu, had declared in a press briefing he organized in Kaduna that the Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko, had invited their Business Manager, Gwiwa Business Unit, Sokoto State, Moses Osigwe and two other staff of the company Isyaku Daura and Nuruddeen Mohammed to his personal residence over the issue of lack of power supply to his hometown, Wamakko, as a result of a failed 2.5 MVA transformer.

But as the men arrived the Governor was said to have accused the staff of ‘deliberately’ denying his community of power supply! And as the Business Manager was trying to explain away the situation the Governor (perhaps furious that he was not doing the explanation in Hausa or Fulani) pounced on him reaching for his horse-whip (commonly called ‘bulala’ in Hausa language) and lashing him to a pulp! The executive aggressor also instructed two hefty mobile policemen to continue with the beating until Mr Osigwe fell on the ground and became unconscious! Alhaji Wamakko reportedly ordered the MOPOL guys to beat up Daura and Mohammed as well– leaving all three in an unconscious state!

Alhaji Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko is the very symbol of what is wrong with Nigeria. He and others like him have become small gods in public offices and because they did not get to power by dint of hardwork or by any transparent electoral contest based on particular ideology but on an effective PDP rigging machine and concomitant godfatherism they arrogate power of life and death to themselves and behave as if they would never go six feet below. But the late Gen. Sani Abacha was meaner and more barbaric but he still kicked the bucket courtesy of some sophisticated imported Indian whores!

When Ikedi Ohakim alias “Ikiri” was the executive Governor of Imo State few years ago, it is worth recalling here, he was reported to have flogged silly (with ‘koboko’) a human rights campaigner in the person of citizen Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha just because the anti-corruption crusader was detailing and publishing Ohakim’s systematic looting of Imo State’s treasury! Then we had raised our voices in condemnation of such brutal exhibition of sadism by an ‘elected’ executive but nothing happened to Ikedi because he was a Governor in Nigeria, a Nigeria where the rule of law only exists in the imagination of the authors of the constitution! Ohakim is now at large enjoying his loot!

Just few weeks ago the Governor of Taraba State Danbaba Suntai was involved in a fatal air crash and presently he is recuperating from his injuries in a German hospital! The man is said to be an avid plane-loving pilot who sacrificed everything to be able to fly himself in executive helicopters and jets. His ‘passion’ for the air and perhaps, gravity, must have pushed him to want to fly himself often avoiding the roads in his state he has neglected constructing or repairing. He cared more for the air than the earth — something that could be attributed to perennial ‘go-slows’, accidents and security challenges associated with the roads!

It is only in our country that a Governor can wake up one morning and decides to go sight-seeing in Dubai, shopping in London; keep a flirtatious date in New York with a ‘Jezebel’ and hop onto the executive jet for Paris to have a ‘deserved rest’ from doing nothing other than issuing orders and signing inflated contracts and pocketing security votes every other month! With the compromised legislative arm failing spectacularly in its task of holding the randy or thieving Governor to account power then becomes a personalised thing with personality cult a ‘religion’ worth adhering to!

Before that fatal air crash involving Gov. Suntai and his aides we had never heard of any great leadership character possessed by the aeroplane-loving executive showman nor seen any stellar performance of the Governor that translated into some improvement in the quality of lives of Tarabans. What we heard was that he ‘cornered’ enough money to be abe to build an airstrip in his hometown where he would be flying to and fro! You see, the truth is that Nigeria is daily producing some schizophrenics in power circles! Unless something drastic is done (perhaps heeding the recent revolution call of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo) we may continue in the diffident trajectory that leads us to nowhere.

Governor Wamakko has shown by his unbecoming ‘bulala’ attack that some beasts still inhabit certain government houses in Nigeria. The governor whose Sokoto state is the home of the Caliphate and therefore a Boko Haram terrorist target must, as a matter of vocation, consider returning home to his village to be a cattle-rearer or a farmer. As a cattle-rearing nomad he would have all the freedom in the world to administer horse whips to the beasts of burden without anyone raising any eyebrows! The question is: why become a politician when you know you are very good at flogging and horse-whipping? Why not become a boxer, a wrestler or a brute instead? Or, better still, a Dangote cement trailer driver as he has strong-enough muscles? (After all, Gov. Wamakko cannot claim to be better academically than the PhD holders seeking for elusive employment from the Dangote Group as truck drivers!).

Governor ‘Bulala’ Wamakko must be forced to resign (though honourable resignation does not exist in the Nigerian dictionary) or be impeached by the state house of assembly. But here again there is a problem: impeachment of any Nigerian erring governor is always a complicated affair; in fact it has never occurred on merit unless instigated by the federal authorities or their anti-graft agencies! The demand by the national labour congress for the Sokoto Governor to apologise publicly or risk strikes cannot be said to be good enough. Wamakko deserves nothing but exit from state executive power. Besides, the victims of the ‘bulala’ themselves should file a civil suit against their tormentor — immunity or no immunity.

There would be more clarity on the oil subsidy if the federal government would release a Green Paper on the restructuring of the oil sector….a smart thing would be to use the composite information from the oil subsidy scam, Ribadu Task force and Aig-Imokhuede comttee and the deregulation reports to embark first on the unbundling of NNPC with a PHCN style privatization, but with less of the equity sold to private investors..

..and then within the same Green Paper the phasing out of the remaining subsidy should be combined with the liberalization of the sector…since a Green Paper also outlines impact, options and their costs and benefits, a more constructive input can be provided by the legislators and other stakeholders to governments intentions in the oil sector

This method of testing public reactions with vague statements shrouds the process in uncertainty ang gives the impression that it is all experimental with govt unsure of where it is, where it wants to go and how

jman

May GOD almighty save us from dis ijaw man badluck jonathan cause dis man is ready to kill all the poor just because he want to embezzle more money.. 2015 is around we will vote u out THIEF

Sleek

which of ur own tribal man had given the nation a better face? Tribalistic racist like u…seal ur trap joor!!!

REALPROP

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harwe

Still dont understand the man self God will help us and guide our steps in voting in a leader who will give us the change Nigerians desires. God Bless my Country.

owolabi olanrewaju

The issue is not about oil subsidy removal, the question is implementation of capital punishment for corruption.why not dealing with corrupt politicians instead of dealing with masses God will judge you GEJ

demolee

GEJ is clueless and he would have removed the subsidy but i guess the show of shame or rather the motion picture named subsidy that we have witnessed over the last eight months is what has made him to say subsidy will remain in 2013,all i have to say is this those that oppresses God’s people, frustrate the poor, governor or president or any form of leader shall die in pain and shame IJN

Mark Igwe

It is too early for the president to conclude that his government has done well on sanitising the electoral process. Old tricks are gone and new tricks have come.There’s work to be done including appointment of the INEC chairman by the National Assembly and allowing INEC to appoint all its functionaries. That way, if Jonathan wins the elections in 2015, WE COULD BE SURE THAT HE WON,UNLIKE 2011

GERALDINE CHIGOZIE MADUWUBA

GOODLUCK JONATHAN help your country subsidy is not the issue,the trouble we are facing day by day.should everybody run back to his or her state.2014 is approaching we see what happens.haaaaaaaaa.